The Nile

Although Herodot's dictum that "Egypt is a gift of the Nile" is proverbial, there has been only scant attention to the way the river impacted on ancient Egyptian society. Egyptologists frequently focus on the textual and iconographic record, whereas archaeologists and earth scientists approach the issue from the perspective of natural sciences. The contributions in this volume bridge this gap by analyzing the river both as a natural and as a cultural phenomenon. Adopting an approach of cultural ecology, it addresses issues like ancient land use, administration and taxation, irrigation, and religious concepts

The Nile: Natural and Cultural Landscape in Egypt

Although Herodot's dictum that "Egypt is a gift of the Nile" is proverbial, there has been only scant attention to the way the river impacted on ancient Egyptian society. Egyptologists frequently focus on the textual and iconographic record, whereas archaeologists and earth scientists approach the issue from the perspective of natural sciences. The contributions in this volume bridge this gap by analyzing the river both as a natural and as a cultural phenomenon. Adopting an approach of cultural ecology, it addresses issues like ancient land use, administration and taxation, irrigation, and religious concepts

The Nile

Although Herodot's dictum that "Egypt is a gift of the Nile" is proverbial, there has been only scant attention to the way the river impacted on ancient Egyptian society. Egyptologists frequently focus on the textual and iconographic record, whereas archaeologists and earth scientists approach the issue from the perspective of natural sciences. The contributions in this volume bridge this gap by analyzing the river both as a natural and as a cultural phenomenon. Adopting an approach of cultural ecology, it addresses issues like ancient land use, administration and taxation, irrigation, and religious concepts

Roman villa of Freiria: Interpreting the past

A story of fascination with thousands of years: Man and space. During the last century, we have witnessed a technological evolution so extraordinary that we accomplished placing man in space, living in it for long periods of time and we are now to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing in 1969. The question is: What is the next step? Ideas of living in outer space have been abundant since the twentieth century, picturing different scenarios and diverse types of living, especially represented in films with both utopian and dystopian views. Due to the renewed interest in space, architects are also developing designs for habitats and future colonies in outer space (Moon, Mars, and Space). With a completely new environment, it’s important for the future Space architects to understand the adversities that need to be surpassed and define design guidelines for the “new” mars vernacular architecture, for a successful human colonization.Uma história de fascinação com milhares de anos: O Homem e o espaço. Neste século passado, observou-se uma evolução tecnológica tão extraordinária que se conseguiu por o Homem no espaço, vivendo nele por longos períodos de tempo, e até estamos a celebrar o 50º aniversário da Aterragem da Lua em 1969. A questão é: Qual é o próximo passo? Ideias de viver no espaço são abundantes no século XX e XXI, representando diferentes cenários e diversas maneiras de habitar, especialmente representado em filmes, tanto com visões utópicas como distópicas. Devido ao interesse renovado no espaço, arquitetos também estão a desenvolver designs de habitats e futuras colónias no espaço, na Lua, Marte. Com um ambiente completamente novo, é importante que os futuros Arquitetos Espaciais percebam as adversidades que têm que ser ultrapassadas e definir linhas-guias para a “nova” Arquitetura vernacular, para uma colonização humana de sucesso

On an Armenian Word List from the Cairo Geniza

This study deals with a short text on a small piece of paper, a conversational glossary, found in the Cairo Geniza. It is likely to be nearly a millennium old, and consists of a list of twenty Judaeo-Arabic words and phrases with their equivalents in Armenian written in Hebrew script. It suggests that members of the two communities met in a convivial setting, possibly a Barekendan (Mardi Gras) party where an official was parodied as a goat in effigy— a custom encountered in other Armenian celebrations of the holiday at Lvov in the 16th century; and Tiflis, in the 19th. The other words in the list reflect economic and cultural realia of the 11th-13th centuries.Near Eastern Languages and Civilization

Georges Perec's Geographies: Material, Performative and Textual Spaces

Georges Perec, novelist, filmmaker and essayist, was one of the most inventive and original writers of the twentieth century. A fascinating aspect of his work is its intrinsically geographical nature. With major projects on space and place, Perec’s writing speaks to a variety of geographical, urban and architectural concerns, both in a substantive way, including a focus on cities, streets, homes and apartments, and in a methodological way, experimenting with methods of urban exploration and observation, classification, enumeration and taxonomy. Georges Perec’s Geographies is the first book to offer a rounded picture of Perec’s geographical interests. Divided into two parts, Part I, Perec’s Geographies, explores the geographies within Perec’s work in film, literature and radio, from descriptions of streets to the spaces of his texts, while Part II, Perecquian Geographies, explores geographies in a range of material and metaphorical forms, including photographic essays, soundscapes, theatre, dance and writing, created by those directly inspired by Perec. Georges Perec’s Geographies extends the body of Perec criticism beyond Literary and French Studies to disciplines including Geography, Urban Studies, Planning and Architecture to offer a complete and systematic examination of Georges Perec’s geographies. The diversity of readings and approaches will be of interest not only to Perec readers and fans but to students and researchers across these subjects